A big push to promote carbon capture as a potential source of revenue for farmers has come up short.
As reported in Agriculture.com, less than 1% of large-scale operators polled for the monthly Ag Economy Barometer by Purdue University said they had discussed carbon contracts with any company, down from to 2% earlier in 2021.
For the survey Purdue called 400 producers from Oct. 18-22, focusing on farmers with over $500,000 a year in crop and livestock production.
Economists James Minters and Michael Langmeier who work on the barometer commented: “It appears that despite a rise in interest and publicity, awareness of carbon capture opportunities by producers on their farms has not increased.”
Just under 30% of farmers polled stated they are “aware of any opportunities to receive payments for capturing carbon on your farm.”
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It appears the promotional initiatives at the start of the year, spearheaded by the Biden administration – and flanked by startups who also want to provide payments – haven’t reached or resonated well enough with the target audience.
The highest percentage of farmers who stated they are aware of payment opportunities for carbon capture was 46% in April according to the poll.
“Among the very small number of producers who had discussed payments with companies, the most common payment offered was less than $10 per tonne of carbon followed by payment rates of $10 to less than $20 per tonne,” said Purdue.
Read more: Agriculture Giants Entice Farmers To Sequester CO2 Emissions
